On A Written Day

Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
– Psalm 89

The lilies are dry spent,
the flesh of summer is full,
a sparrow darts and drops,
and before and behind me
the numbered pages of the day.

It is nothing to record
but only express
the birthed thoughts
growing into the soul,
slow-cutting my being
from the shape of the world.

Am I alone?
Do I lean on a rotting fence?
The green mold leafs,
the grasses rise—

If it grows evening
and I am still here—
if it grows evening
and my words do not stay

then I have poorly spent
the lifetime of a day.

Simeon Lewis attended the University of Vermont for both undergraduate and graduate school and received degrees in History and Education. He works as a middle school teacher at St. Francis Xavier School in Winooski, Vermont and currently teaches social studies and religion.

Purchase
Featuring “Stabbed Through the Heart for the Sake of the Fat Lady: Beauty and ‘Catholic Fiction’” by Travis LaCouter, Honorable Mentions to the J.F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction, and visual art by Fabrice Poussin.